Information for Plaintiffs in Small Claims CasesAppeals of Small Claims
JudgmentsFiling an
Appeal – If the judge enters judgment in favor of the defendant
or if the judge enters judgment in your favor but for less than what you asked
for, you can file an appeal. If the judge enters judgment in your favor, the
defendant can file an appeal. If you want to appeal the judgment you can ask
the court clerk for a form called “Notice of Appeal.” The form must be filled
out completely and signed and either typewritten or printed in black ink. You
must give the completed form to the court clerk to file your notice of appeal.
If you or the defendant files a notice of appeal, a hearing will be scheduled
and a notice of the date and time of the hearing will be mailed to you and the
defendant. If both parties appeal, both appeals will be set for hearing at the
same time.

Deadline for
Filing an Appeal – You must file your notice of appeal within 30 days
(including weekends and holidays) after the date the judgment was filed. The
date the judgment was filed is shown in the upper right-hand corner of the
judgment. The 30-day deadline for filing an appeal is absolute—you cannot get
an extension of the deadline for any reason. Either you or the defendant can
ask for a jury trial on an appeal of a small claims judgment. If you want a
trial by jury, there are steps you must follow that are set forth in the Rules
of Civil Procedure.

Fees for Filing
an Appeal – When you file your notice of appeal you must pay a filing
fee. In some counties the filing fee must be paid in cash or money order; in
some counties the court clerk will accept a personal check. In most counties
the filing fee is non-refundable (the
court clerk will not give it back to you for any reason). In a few counties
there are certain limited circumstances in which the court clerk may refund the
filing fee.

The Hearing on
Appeal – On appeal, the case will be assigned to a different
judge for a trial
de novo (new hearing). At the hearing on appeal, the judge will
not be deciding whether the first judge made a mistake. Instead, the case will
be treated like a new case. You may want to review the information in this
document about getting ready for a hearing on a contested claim.

However, there are some important differences between the first hearing on your
claim and the hearing on appeal. One big difference is that the Idaho Rules of
Civil Procedure and the Rules of Evidence apply at the hearing on appeal. These
rules have been adopted by the Idaho Supreme Court and they set the procedures
that the judges, court clerks, and parties must follow. The first hearing on
your claim was informal and these rules did not apply. The hearing on appeal is
more formal and these rules do apply. One of the most important of these rules
is the rule on hearsay
evidence (when you tell the judge something that someone other than
the defendant told you). When someone other than the defendant says something
in writing and you try to give the written statement to the judge,
that is called hearsay evidence. Generally, hearsay evidence is not
allowed, although there are some exceptions when a judge can allow it. For a
judge to allow hearsay evidence, usually the person offering it has to provide
other information to convince the judge that the hearsay evidence is reliable.
If you have something important to your case that someone other than the
defendant has told you, you may call that person as a witness and have them
testify to the statement(s) at your hearing.

Another important difference is that the parties may be represented by lawyers.
You may choose to represent yourself at the hearing on appeal; however, when
you represent yourself in a case where you can have an attorney you are held to
the same standards as an attorney. In other words, if you choose to represent
yourself it is not an excuse that you are not a lawyer or that you don’t know
the law or the rules.

The judge may issue a pretrial order that requires the parties to follow
certain steps in a small claims appeal. If the judge in your case issues a
pretrial order, the court clerk will mail a copy to both you and the defendant
and you must comply with the order in preparing for your case and presenting
your case to the judge.

After the judge has heard the appeal, the judge will make a written decision
and the court clerk will make a copy of the decision for you and the defendant.
A judgment in a small claims appeal can also be appealed to the district court
and the judgment of the district court can be appealed to the Idaho Supreme
Court.